Brisbane Airport's New Parallel Runway

The NPR will be 3.3km long, 60m wide, located 2km west of and parallel to the existing runway. More than 12km of taxiways, navigational aids, airfield infrastructure and hundreds of hectares of airfield landscaping

Project Timing: 2014 - 2020

Investment: $1.35 billion

The biggest aviation project in Australia, when complete will give Brisbane the best runway system in the country.We’ve reclaimed 360 hectares of soft marshland by pumping 11 million cubic metres of sand onto the site. Over four years, the weight of the sand, working with 330,000 wick drains funnelling the water to the surface, will create a solid base for the runway.Once the base is ready, construction of the new runway and taxiways will begin. The new pavement will be 3.3 kilometres long, 60 metres wide and will have 12km of taxiways. Lighting, navigational aids and landscaping will also take place in this phase.Environmentally sound and award winning, the project will create 2,700 construction jobs.

New Parallel Runway: Key Facts

The runway will deliver a regional economic benefit of around $5 billion per year by 2035

7,800 jobs will be created for the Brisbane/Moreton region by 2035 due to additional capacity

The runway will allow the same level of capacity as Hong Kong and Singapore airports

The new runway will give Brisbane the best runway system in Australia

Flights are forecast to grow from 227,000 in 2014/15 to over 360,000 by 2035

Tourism facilitated by the airport has been quantified at $3.1 billion in the FY13. This is estimated to grow to a national contribution of $7.6 billion by 2033-34

Construction Phases:

Site preparation (completed) - includes clearing, construction of access roads, significant drainage works and modifications to the cross runway system that necessitated its temporary closure.

Dredging and reclamation works (completed) – includes clearing the remainder of the site, sand extraction from Moreton Bay, piling sand on the site and a four year ground settlement period (2014-2018)

Construction of the pavements and airfield (2017 - 2020) - includes pushing off the excess sand surcharge, constructing pavements and airfield, then commissioning and commencing operations.